www.broadwaynews.com: Nominations for the 2025 Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards were announced on Jan. 22. The awards acknowledge accurate and inclusive portrayals of LGBTQ people and issues across all mediums, and media that increases LGBTQ visibility. Eligible work for the 36th annual ceremony had to be published, released, performed or broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024. The 36th annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremony will take place on March 27 in Los Angeles.
4 comments:
I know we still have a ways to go, but isn’t it freaking amazing how much LGBTQ+ rep that we’ve had on Broadway this past year??? And years before that! Illinois was one of the nominees for a GLAAD award. I love love love this show and I wish I got a chance to see it. Storytelling through dance is truly incredible and has always been particularly moving for me and the fact that a whole musical told through dance was on Broadway and won a tony is huge! I grew up watching Rent and it really was my first exposure to the LGBTQ+ community and became foundational to myself as a person and artist. Broadway and theater has always been groundbreaking for LGBTQ+ and societal commentary. Many plays and musicals came out of the AIDS epidemic that gave a voice to the voiceless and criticized the ostracization that occurred during the epidemic. Theater has always been a haven for LGBTQ+ stories that were often overlooked by mainstream media. In a time of growing uncertainty we need to keep making theater that matters in the face of hatred.
I've never really thought or heard much about the GLAAD Awards before, but I found myself kind of surprised at first when I read that they had a Broadway category. However, now that I am thinking about it, I am now just consumed by thoughts of Broadway and theatre in general and its long-standing history with the queer community. Basically ever since the beginning of theatre, it has been, in a way, an inherently queer medium. I am so amazed and proud to be part of a community that will always and has always embraced love at the forefront of everything. I will say however, I am a little confused. Specifically with the movie category. In the beginning of the article it cites the GLAAD awards as, “The awards acknowledge accurate and inclusive portrayals of LGBTQ people and issues across all mediums, and media that increases LGBTQ visibility.” And then I see that Wicked is on the nomination list. Well, of course Wicked being related to theater and a majority of the actors and actresses as well as creative team being members of the LGBTQIA+ community, there was really nothing in the movie that was outright queer and increasing of LGBTQ visibility besides cast and creative. Of course there are undertones, but I wonder if that should be part of the category of nominations. I know it was made largely by queer people, but is any of that really “visible” to audiences? Just something to think about.
When I first came out in 2016ish, there were very few pieces of queer media, not to mention publicly queer people. The rise in pride and publicized queer joy within the last 5-10 years has been so amazing to see as a queer person growing up. One of the biggest things I’ve noticed is the rise in queer books. When I first came out and I wanted to read books that had people like me in them, there were only a handful and it was the same 3 or 4 books on every list. Now, I see whole sections in bookstores for these books. I see characters in media who are like me, not for “woke points”, or the whole storyline revolves around their queerness, but just because queer people exist and are normal in the same way as every other human on the planet. These awards to queer media including smaller indie queer media, is wonderful because of the visibility. I’m going to have to look into all of these and give them a watch/listen.
oops, this is Ari K btw
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